Will diarrhea affect muscle/fat gain?

[omartron]

Hey, I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum!

Firstly, I'd like to apologise if any of this is gross.

I used to train about three years ago and made some great progress but then got lazy and stopped up until January this year when I started hitting the gym hard and eating properly to gain weight. The only problem is in december I started having severe diarrhea and didn't think anything of it.

I went to the doctors about two months later and they couldn't find anything with blood tests, so I had to go for a colonoscopy (which I wouldn't recommend had it not been for the laughing gas that they give you!) and was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. They gave me medication and now at the end of april, 4 months later my diarrhea is FINALLY gone. I still have another 6 weeks of medication left (a corticosteroid and anti-inflammatory) but it IS gone.

Since january I've seen some awesome gains in strength in the gym but I was wondering if at all the diarrhea could have slowed down my gains? I'd like to hear your take on the situation, thanks a lot guys!

By the way, I'm a 19 year old male, average build with average amounts of fat.

In about a month's time I'll be checking in to let people know if it did have any effect

Omar

[huxald]

hi cell turnover increases your caloric requirement. also, corticosteroids tend to cause muscle lossdue to increased gluconeogenesis.

[JoeSchmo]

Could also cause dehydration (and electrolyte loss) as well, which isn't optimal for training and muscle growth.

Glad you got it fixed though and are getting better results in the gym.